My little analytics training startup, Principal Analytics Prep, is proud to sponsor the next meeting of the Data Visualization New York Meetup, organized by the indefatigable Naomi Robbins. The Meetup, to be held on November 26, 2018 (Monday), headlines NYU professor, Kristen Sosulski, who will discuss the “business case for data visualization”. Click here to register.

Naomi is a long-time friend. I reviewed and recommended her book on Creating More Effective Data Graphics in 2008. This is still a useful reference to some key concepts, presented in a clean, easily digestible format.

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The keynote speaker, Kristen, has just published Data Visualization Made Simple, described as a “top book for computer science students.” I am very much looking forward to her talk because the subject speaks to the core of the mission of Principal Analytics Prep: placing data science & analytics in the context of the entire enterprise.

That’s why my bootcamp and training programs emphasize the Three Pillars: computing, statistics, and business. Our instructors are practitioners with 10 to 30 years of learning from real-world implementation of models and systems used by forward-thinking, data-driven organizations.

The Spring 2019 cohort of our Certified Data Specialistbootcamp is open for applications. If you're looking to transition your career into data science and advanced analytics, check us out. Here are some of the great things our alums have said about the program. Take advantage of the early admit deadline by December 10, 2018. Click here for more information.

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I'm excited to hear what Kristen has to say about using data visualization in the business world. Kristen's website is here. She teaches at NYU's Stern School of Business, and describes herself as a computer scientist. Here's the link to the Amazon page. Unfortunately the page is not very informative about the book's content. The table of contents is minimalist ("The Design", "The Audience", etc.). I will report back on what she spoke about after the Meetup.

I'm delivering a quick-fire Webinar this Wednesday on how to make impactful data graphics for communication and persuasion. Registration is free, at this link.

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In the meantime, I'm preparing a guest lecture for the Data Visualization class at Yeshiva University Sims School of Management. The goal of the lecture is to emphasize the importance of incorporating analytics into the data visualization process.

Here is the lesson plan:

Introduce the Trifecta checkup (link) which is the general framework for effective data visualizations

Provide examples of Type D data visualizations, i.e. graphics that have good production values but fail due to issues with the data or the analysis

Hands-on demo of an end-to-end data visualization process

Lessons from the demo including the iterative nature of analytics and visualization; and sketching

The general idea is that the average rating of the average film on IMDB has declined from about 7.5 to 6.5... but this does not mean that IMDB users like oldies more than recent movies. The problem is a bias in the IMDB user base. Since IMDB's website launched only in 1990, users are much more likely to be reviewing movies released after 1990 than before. Further, if users are reviewing oldies, they are likely reviewing oldies that they like and go back to, rather than the horrible movie they watched 15 years ago.

Modelers should be exploring and investigating their datasets before building their models. Same thing for anyone doing data visualization! You need to understand the origin of the data, and its biases in order to tell the proper story.

California readers: here's a chance to come meet me. I am giving talks in San Diego (Feb 3) and San Mateo (Feb 5) next week, courtesy of JMP. Free registration is here.

These talks are related to two ongoing projects of mine: the first project is to create a theory of data visualization criticism. How can we use precise language to describe our reactions - good and bad - to data visualization work? The second project is surrounding how to find stories from a mass of data.

I'd love to meet some of you on the West Coast who are fans of the blog. Please also forward this announcement to your friends or colleagues who might be interested.

I have been a fan of Alberto Cairo for a while, and am slowly working my way through his great book, The Functional Art, which I will review soon.

Thanks to the folks at JMP, the two of us will be appearing together in the Analytically Speaking webcast, on Friday, 1-2 pm EST. Sign up here. We are both opinionated people, so the discussion will be lively. Come and ask us questions.